We’ve just returned from an epic trip to France where we took in Paris, Disneyland and the South of France! But, the main reason for our 10 day trip was to head to Download Festival in Paris. With Mr C turning 30 this year, it only seemed right to humour his wish to head to the festival that was being headlined by two of his favourite rock artists. You will be familiar with the UK version that’s hosted at Donnington Park every year, however, it’s now headed over to France for the festival season and it’s every inch of what you want a festival experience to be. Here’s how we spent two days rocking out at Download Festival Paris with Festicket.
Download Festival Paris is located at an airbase south of the centre of Paris. We flew in to Charles de Gaulle airport and made our way down to Evry, the french town we would be staying in as a base for the next 3 nights whilst we would be at the festival.
Our Air BnB was right next to both a McDonald’s and the Carrefour (plus a big shopping mall which meant we could dash to Primark for some last-minute bits!) – it was also conveniently located about ten minutes or so from the festival site. It cost us approx. £260 for 3 nights between the four of us. A huge difference between the £200 per room, per night prices that the local hotels were trying to charge!
Each day we Ubered it to the site for ease, with the morning trip only being around 15-20 euros and the return was about 35-50 euros. It meant we could all have a drink and enjoy ourselves without worrying how we were going to get home. They even had a designated “Uber pick up” where we never waited more than ten minutes for one to arrive.
The first day was about getting our bearings. Once dropped off you had about a twenty-minute walk from the main dual carriageway to the ticket entrance. To be honest, it didn’t bother us too much as it was flat the whole way and everybody else was in the same boat. (We even met a group of fellow Yorkshire men/women who bizarrely lived in the street next to my old childhood home – what are the odds of that?!)
The bag and body checks are thorough which definitely put my mind at ease. Although, we were slightly annoyed that our sun tan cream was taken off us despite the fact the website said it was a permitted item. Possibly the language barrier had something to do with this though!
There were no wristbands for day ticket holders, so we just went straight in. We headed straight to get a drink from the bar but we were told that it was a cashless site and we needed to head to the stand to get our cashless wristband – which despite the annoyance at first (boy, were we parched!) it turned out to be one of the best and easiest ways to festival! You could top up as much as you wished by cash or card and you were never in the queue for more than five minutes if you wanted to go top up throughout the weekend.
I have to tilt my hat to the organisers because there idea of re-usable cups for drinks is possibly the best thing to ever happen at a festival.
You paid about 2 euros for the cup and every time you went to get a drink they would refill it or get you a fresh one.
It was THE CLEANEST FESTIVAL I have EVER been to. Literally, zero litter anywhere!
It’s definitely something UK festivals should consider. That, or maybe the French are just a heck of a lot cleaner than we are here in Britain.
Now, I know I’m tooting the festivals horn just a little too much, but I haven’t even gotten to the food yet. IT WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD. I haven’t ever tasted festival food like it. I actually felt like the food played a massive part of the enjoyment for me (if I have full and satisfied tummy then I am a happy chappy!) We had this amazing macaroni cheese, steak frites and more. Prices were reasonable from about 4 euros upwards. However, you didn’t mind paying over the odds for it because it was just so incredible.
In terms of the drinks these ranged from 5 euros for a beer / cider with large ones coming in at 7-8 euros. There were craft beers and cider tent’s as well which offered something a little different too.
Early on during day 1 we got to see old school band, Billy Talent which certainly got me reminiscing of those days in year 9 spent trying hard not to be branded “emo” whilst all the while, wanting to be called “emo.” Oh, the simpler days?
Another band that really caught my attention was Wakan Tanka. The best way to describe them would be mix of Rage Against the Machine / Royal Blood / Nothing but Thieves, all the while looking like Willy from Duck Dynasty! I’ve actually downloaded some of their music since we got back so that’s a sure sign that they caught my attention.
You’ll have to excuse the photo’s on this post. All were taken with my iPhone 7 plus, simply because you needed a proper press pass to carry a DSLR around with you. Some turned out great, and some, not so much.
One of the main reasons we went to Download was to see Ozzy Osbourne, I mean lets face it, he’s a british legend that has brought us many comical moments over the years.
Despite being 70 this year, he commanded that stage like no other. He even went and through a bucket of water over the crowd because they weren’t clapping along as hard as he wanted them to. Man still got balls!
He played some of the classics such as Crazy Train and Fairies Wear Boots, it certainly had us dancing all night. The whole set was enthusiastic and typical of what you would expect of the rocker who has toured for five whole decades, it only seemed right he put on an amazing show as he considers this to be his last world tour that will take us in to 2020!
It’s time we let the man put his feet up.
Day 2 was all about Marilyn Manson for us, but we also got to see The Offspring for the first time, too. I absolutely loved Download Festival because we saw some fantastic acts that we have never seen at a UK festival which definitely made it worth our while.
The Offspring crowd was absolutely insane and it was clear that a lot of the festival-goers were here for them and even though they have aged since those 90’s “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” days, they sure knew what banger’s to play to excite everyone!
Marilyn Manson’s set was filled with plenty of typical, Manson-esque pantomime, with a short snippet of “Don’t like the Drugs” (which I wish he had played in full), “The Dope Show” and “Sweet Dreams” getting everyone absolutely stoked, he even played “Kill4Me” and “Deep Six” from the Pale Emperor Album, which we absolutely love! (But why did you not play “Killing Strangers” or “Third Day of a Seven Day Binge” pal? In fact, we would have been super happy if he had just played the whole album tbh.)
With many an outfit change, backstage curtain changes and visits from the adoring public on stage – not only was it a feast for the ears, it was visually very impressive. And, going off reviews I’ve read before, he is very much back to his solid performance days again!
Sadly, he didn’t play “Tainted Love” which let the crowd down a little, but, he put on a bloody good show which more than made up for it.
Mr C came away from the festival that night, one very happy bunny!
I wish I had been able to fit one last day at the festival because over the course of the next two days there would be Guns n’ Roses, Slaves, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes and Wolf Alice would be playing, but alas we needed to head to Paris for the next leg of our journey!
It was an incredible experience and we are waiting with bated breath for next years line up because we are seriously thinking about going again! (Come on Leeds Fest, you now have a lot to live up to!)
Have you ever been to a Music Festival abroad?
Bee
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*For the purposes of this post, I want to share that I was gifted one free ticket to the Festival by Festicket. A festival brand that I absolutely adore and have collaborated with in the past on content.
